If I had a Nickel for Every Time I Heard That
by Gin-inu
Summary: Finding Sasuke was blind luck. Accidentally knocking him out...not so lucky. Trapping him in secluded building with a seal you don't know how to use...pretty stupid. SasuHina bad summary


**A/N: I have no idea where I was going with this…**

A small throb began from the back of his skull to the front. He winced as the throb got a little deeper and jumped through his head again as if there were an animal trying its hardest to break through the barrier that was his skull.

The realization came to him that he was laying on the ground when he twitched slightly and a rock dug into his spine. Wincing again and choking on a curse word or two, he gripped his head with a hand and tried to roll over on his stomach.

Sasuke slowly got to his knees and noticed they were bleeding. He grunted irritably and flopped on his butt and leaned against a conveniently placed tree behind him.

Rubbing the side of his head he felt a bump that was definitely going to stay for a while. He thought back to what happened.

In fact…what had happened?

He was running in the forest from tree to tree when suddenly a blob of purple and blue smacked unexpectedly into his temple knocking him out of the tree and onto his knees then rolling onto his back.

From there everything went black. He chided himself for not paying attention close enough and getting knocked unconscious so easily. Then again, he had not paid attention to where he was exactly either.

All thoughts stopped momentarily as another throb shot through his head. Everything spun for a moment so he shut his eyes.

Taking a few breaths to get everything together, he was shocked when he felt a hesitant hand touch his temple and his eyes shot open.

Leaping quickly to his feet and ignoring the pain in his head, Sasuke shot into a defensive stance and glared at a surprised and nervous looking girl six feet away. She sat crouched and supported by her knees. She looked up with frosted orbs and gulped slightly at the angry boy above her.

He breathed evenly and contemplated why she would be here and his eyes turned to slits when he noticed her purple jacket and soft blue hair.

"You."

A simple word but when used with a certain tone could get the point across. Sasuke _got _the point across.

She immediately got to her feet clumsily and bowed, her long hair falling in front of her like a shield.

"I'm very s-sorry!" She waited for any response but when she got none she raised her head and peeked through her hair up at him. He was still in a defensive stance but it was a little more relaxed as he examined her form.

She gripped her coat and pursed her lips.

"Sasuke-san…" she mumbled and the air got caught in her throat for a moment. Uchiha Sasuke was standing right in front of her. The boy who was once a part of Team 7. The boy who was once a large part of Naruto-kun's life and practically a brother to him. The boy who betrayed his village for revenge…

Before he could say anything a desperate look appeared on her face as gripped her coat harder.

"C-Come back with me!"

His face remained blank but he dropped his stance and caught himself before he put his hand against his swollen temple again. Showing signs of weakness to another was unacceptable.

Not even bothering giving to her an answer he brushed his black pants off and leaned against a tree.

"What were you doing running so fast that you couldn't even avoid someone in front of you?" He didn't even know why he was asking since he didn't care much but that throb shouldn't be that strong from just getting kneed.

Technically he didn't even need an answer when he saw the gash on her shoulder that was now bandaged but the coat was torn.

"Everyone's looking for y-you. You have to c-come back," she said slightly assertive but it didn't even faze him. He brushed past her, albeit slightly wobbly, but still enough to knock her off balance.

He heard her feet grip on the soil and turn around to face him. He continued in the direction he presumed he was heading for before he was knocked unconscious.

Sasuke got about twelve feet away from her when he heard the pitter patter of her feet behind him. Abruptly he stopped.

Upon seeing him halt, so did she. Slowly he looked over his shoulder at the girl who still looked nervous but persisted on following him.

"Do not follow me," he ordered harshly and turned back around continuing down the forest floor. Yet again twelve steps away he heard the same pitter patter of feet on the soil. Apparently he would have to use more force to get the point across.

He stopped.

She stopped.

"Apparently you wouldn't mind losing the use of your ankles," he stated not even bothering to look at her.

"I…I don't—it's just you need to come b-back," she mumbled staring at his back.

Slowly Sasuke turned around and looked into her pale eyes. So she was a Hyuuga…She looked oddly familiar but not enough to remember her name. Hell he didn't think he even know her name back when they attended the chuunin exam.

"Stop spouting that. I don't want you to say that again. I hate people who repeat themselves too much."

"B-but—"she was cut off when a kunai flew past her cheek and barely grazed it. Her eyes widened at the slight stinging sensation on her face before a warm liquid barely dripped down. She stopped it with her coat sleeve before it dripped off her chin to see the red liquid starting to stain the material.

"I meant it. Next time it will be your throat. Now do not follow me," he growled.

Turning heel he proceeded again, this time no footsteps could be heard behind him.

-

-

Hinata stood there her knees shaking. She wasn't afraid per say…she was shocked. Something in her gut churned at the thought of letting Naruto's best friend walk off without putting up some sort of fight. It lurched again at the thought of seeing his face when she told him she had found Sasuke but let him walk away. He would be heartbroken and angry but would try not to act like it was her to blame even though she knew she was.

It would tear her apart.

But Sasuke was much stronger than her. No doubt she could hold him off for Naruto's group to arrive if she had some partners with her to ambush him in the state that he was, but she was separated from them when they were attacked hours before. It was against all odds she would run into Sasuke and knock him out accidentally.

However as fast as these thoughts were coming Sasuke was getting farther and farther away.

Hinata forced herself to get out of thought and watch as Sasuke was about to disappear out of view. Even if it cost her she would not let Sasuke out of her sight for Naruto's sake.

So she did the only thing she could think of; trail him from a far distance.

She stayed out of his sight and kept quiet as she maneuvered through the forest shrubs. Something in the back of her head told her he would find out soon she was following him. After all he was an extremely skilled shinobi trained by one of the sannin.

After hours it was nightfall and Hinata was surprised he was able to continue this far after being unconscious moments before he got up to leave. His posture was tense and he wobbled every now and then but for the most part people could tell he was alright.

Her eyes widened when she saw what he was approaching. A large gated compound stood towering over them both. It looked ancient as vines were covering it and the paint was far beyond peeling off.

The architecture and design was completely unfamiliar to her. Who built this large building out in the middle of nowhere? Her thoughts stopped abruptly as Sasuke easily pushed the gate open.

_He's staying here tonight? _she thought and a slight shiver ran through her spine. Would it be possible to stalk him and keep out of view when they were in the same building?

It was much too cold to just sleep on the dirt. Hesitantly she proceeded in after him after waiting what she thought was a decent amount of time.

The door creaked a little when she opened it and dust flew around her feet from the wind that was blowing in. She took a step inside only to have the wood creak angrily under her weight.

She shut the paper door and looked around. There were a few candles placed in the slots on the walls that Sasuke lit for some light she assumed. Hopefully no one else lived here that Sasuke was meeting.

She continued down the dimly lit hall until she came to the first room. It had a few pieces of furniture that time was not too gentle to. There was another set of paper doors that led to a yard she guessed when she heard water splash.

Hinata opened the door a crack to find there was a small pond where coy lived. Or used to anyway. She shut it a little too loudly when she heard footsteps behind her.

Panicking Hinata hid behind the matted couch into a patch of cobwebs. Unfortunately spiders still lived in these.

Everything grew silent. No footsteps. No breathing. Nothing.

Hesitantly she peeked her head over the couch to see nothing. The room was completely empty. She almost gave a sigh of relief until she felt something on her shoulder.

A firm grip pulled at her skin and all the color drained from her face. Slowly, with hesitant orbs, she looked at her right shoulder to see a hand with armor on the top. Following the armor she was met with a white shirt and soon a neck attached to the head of none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

His eyes seemed blank and he had no particular expression on his face but that seemed far worse to her than any angry or irritated expression he could give her. She could not tell what he was thinking with the face he was making let alone herself as her heart pounded loud in her ears. His grip was now painful and she could feel her shoulder starting to ache.

He said nothing as he wretched her backwards and she landed on her back with a thump. He leaned over her resting all his weight on his heels and bending his knees. He stuck his katana in the wood right next to her head none too gently and looked at her, his hand still gripping the handle.

She took in a quick intake of air but was still relieved when she noticed he hadn't activated his sharingan. Something told her he had known she was following him.

There would be no way he could have caught her this quickly without knowing beforehand she was coming.

Hinata's heart threatened to jump out of her chest at the tension in the room. Why wouldn't he say anything? Why wouldn't he do anything? Was he expecting her to make the first advancement?

Suddenly he pulled his sword out ruthlessly and held it with such grace down to her throat.

She couldn't even gulp as the air was stuck in her throat. The cool metal pressed lightly against her pink skin but not enough to cut it, just enough to sting.

He looked casually down at her and spoke softly." I told you next time it would be your throat, did I not?"

Her eyes widened and sweat started to form on her brow. He looked expectantly at her, his raven hair fluttering over his eyes as he was bending over her.

Shakily she gave him an answer by a small nod; the feeling of metal danced across her skin as if it were trying to bite her but was being restrained.

"Yet you persisted foolishly."

He pressed a little harder, enough to draw a drop of blood at the end where the tip of the sword touched her skin. He heard her gasp slightly and grip the sleeves of her coat. He knew he didn't need to pin her down because she already knew he was faster than her. Before she could lift her hands out to resist him, her throat would be cut.

"S-Sasuke-san…"

Her voice was light and seemed to fade in the air. He watched as she took a few small breaths so her throat wouldn't hit the blade any more than it had to.

He expected her to mutter some babble about coming back to Konoha but was surprised at what she said.

"Behin—behind you…"

His eyes snapped a little wider hearing the growing creaking behind him and jumped out of the way quickly. A large smash was heard and dust flew all around the floor as the large bookshelf fell forward and crashed against the ground.

He looked across the room at Hinata who was touching her throat lightly with one hand and staring shakily from him to the bookshelf.

He pondered if she could have done that but glancing down at it he saw one of the old wooden legs gave out.

"Sasuke-san—"

He looked up quickly and glared at her, his eyes catching a small shade of crimson. Her body froze on the spot.

Would she be able to fend off the sharingan? Why risk it…

"Think carefully about what comes out of your mouth next," he warned. Sasuke was already worn out from walking a long distance and being knocked unconscious not to mention the blow to his ego about it.

The trembling girl bit her lip and kept her eyes on his hand with the katana. She pulled her hands down in front of her and slowly looked up at his face.

"C-can I stay here tonight?"

Those words surprised her and made Sasuke narrow his eyes. She had not intended to say that. In fact, she had no idea what she was going to say to him, but 'Can I stay here' was far from anything she wanted to say.

It was silent again besides the fact that some wind was trying to slip in between the cracks of the door.

They kept eye contact until Sasuke moved his hand making her eyes drift down to see him placing his katana back. Gradually, he exhaled then turned around leaving her alone in the room.

Hinata blinked a few times and stood there in silence.

"I…is that a yes?" he voice shaky and quiet but unsure what kind of response he had given her. He wouldn't attack her if she fell asleep would he?

-

-

Hinata had the worst sleep of her life. She sat leaned against a corner in that small room drifting in and out of sleep. She didn't want to be attacked in the middle of the night nor did she want Sasuke to leave without her knowing.

All in all she had probably received an hour or two of actual sleep. Her eyes blurred every time she tried to focus on any object and her back ached from sitting in an awkward position all night.

Footsteps snapped her out of trying to go back to sleep when she looked up to see Sasuke standing in the hallway. He glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Are you leaving?" she asked quietly and a bit unsurely but he only stared before walking down the hallway.

She sprung to her feet nearly tripping over them when she ran face first into nothing. Wincing, Hinata fell onto her butt and looked up stunned to see that Sasuke had not gotten far, just far enough to put a few seals by the entrance to the room.

Their eyes met again and shock and worry were written on her face. He merely reached out and touched the seal on the wall lightly before retracting his hand and turning for the front door.

Her breathing was slightly erratic as she felt around the wall and entrance area only to have it feel completely solid under her fingertips.

She ran for the backyard only to find it sealed off too. Had he done this while she was asleep she wondered.

It was simple though, all she had to do was remain calm and figure out how to disable the seal. Taking a few breaths, Hinata composed herself again a new determination set into her eyes.

Moments later the wall burst and chunks of the wood flew into the yard. She got out of her offensive stance she used to get out of the room and jumped into the yard.

Running around the corner of the house she had not expected to come face to face with Sasuke. Screaming and covering her mouth quickly Hinata jumped back a few feet staring confused and flustered at his tranquil figure.

He looked at her with slight interest.

'_She had disabled the seals? They weren't particularly hard but they would have taken more time for a normal shinobi to decipher,' _Sasuke pondered to himself as he watched her take a few shaky breaths.

"I—I thought you left!" she said surprised as he was waiting calmly.

"I never said I was going to leave."

She looked at him as if his face was melting. He only smirked and walked towards her making her shoulders tense up.

"How did you manage to decipher those seals so quickly?" he asked keeping his voice flat. She looked up at him with large eyes.

"A-ah…it was just—I just had to stay calm and," she paused to take a few steps back from him." It wasn't that hard if you t-think about it."

She wondered why he had been waiting outside for her. Apparently he expected her to figure out the seals quickly and catch up to him in the blink of an eye.

"Why are you so insistent on following me?" he asked, his full attention on her for a moment.

Hinata didn't know what to say on the spot, so she said what came to mind first.

"You need to come back to Konoha. N-Naruto-kun is looking for you! You _have _to come back," she exclaimed a hint of desperation in her voice.

At the sound of Naruto's name Sasuke seemed a little less pleasant to her. She watched as he brushed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes quickly before speaking again.

"I have nothing personal against you, but you have no reason to be tracking me. If Naruto is doing it of his own accord, that doesn't mean you have to do it for him. I'm sure he's capable enough of at _least _catching up to me on his own." His tone was stern but not angry but it still made Hinata almost take a step back.

"B-but…" she looked over all his features anxiously not quite sure what she wanted to say.

"If you like Naruto so much, then let him get his 'friend' back on his own. I'm sure he wouldn't want some stranger to do it for him," he paused seeing her cheeks flush and eyes widen." I won't kill you if you stop following me now. Go back and tell him where you encountered me but by then I'll be long gone."

She had no idea how to react to that. It's true, the thought of Naruto being a bit irritated that someone else had convinced Sasuke to come back so easily when he was going through two years of hell for him crossed her mind, but she never thought he would hate her completely if she helped get him back. He couldn't hate her for doing that with good intentions.

"I—I—I—"she stuttered and tried to come up with something to say, something to think, anything to do. A thought struck her quickly and before she knew what she was doing, she took out a seal she was carrying.

Leaping quickly away from Sasuke, she placed it on the gate the only exit of the building. Something appeared behind her a second later and slammed their hand onto the gate next to the seal.

Warm breath whispered questioningly yet assertive in her ear." What did you just do?"

Her heart pounded in her chest and she didn't want to look around to see what expression he had on his face. She had known exactly what she had done.

When she didn't answer he spoke again, this time heatedly." The symbol on this seal—"he flipped her around harshly to face her. Sasuke looked into her nervous eyes and placed his other hand beside her head." Where did you get this?"

Hinata attempted to form a sentence but shut her mouth. On the second attempt she said," I got it a-as a gift from a shinobi who wo-works as an ANBU."

He glared at her then glanced back at the seal. She could feel his chakra radiating off his skin and nipping at her. She could tell he knew it was a complicated seal from the start, then again she expected someone of his caliber to be familiar with all kinds of seals and techniques.

"How do you take it off?"

Hinata's eyes widened the size of dinner plates. She regretted the next words that came out of her mouth.

"Don't you know?"

Immediately his eyes turned crimson and black pinwheels started to form around his pupils.

"What do you mean 'Don't you know'?" he hissed and she coiled back.

"W-well I just know it's a powerful seal, I had no idea how it worked. It was supposed to be used as a last resort." His brow creased further and further for every word she spoke.

"Let me get this straight," his hand gripped her throat." You used a seal on the only exit that you had no idea how it worked just to stall for time?"

She gripped at his hand, her nails digging into his skin and gasped. He squeezed harder making it tougher to get air into her lungs. Roughly Sasuke chucked her to the side where she fell onto her stomach.

Not knowing what he was going to do next, she immediately got to her feet into a defensive stance, her chest heaving.

Sasuke had no intention of looking at her; instead it was all directed on the seal placed on the gate lock.

It was like that for at least ten minutes. Hinata remained in her stance keeping all her attention on what Sasuke would do next, and Sasuke had all of his on the seal. When he gave a groan of frustration she took a few steps back. Sasuke whipped his head around, the sharingan no longer there but the bubbling anger was still present.

"You will not leave here alive if you do not deactivate this seal. That is, if I don't kill you first."

His voice was sharp and icy, intending to strike fear into her. She knew it worked as an unpleasant chill ran up her spine.

"I don't know how—"

"Don't give me that. You were carrying it so you must be at least a little familiar with it!" he walked up and stood directly in front of her, their chests barely touching. He looked directly down into her face and glared." You will remove this seal before anyone shows up out here."

-

-

What had she gotten herself into? He was surely going to kill her now. She had set her fate and it wasn't the best way either. Hopefully it wasn't in vain. She hoped someone from Konoha would show up before he had slaughtered her.

Hinata sat criss-crossed in front of the gate, her back leaning on it and looking up at the sky. She had been sitting there for four hours and was completely stumped about how to get the seal to deactivate. She had tried burning it; it didn't burn. She had tried inserting chakra into it; nothing happened. She even tried to attack it randomly to see if it would peel off; it wouldn't.

She wasn't even sure if Sasuke was still watching her or not, but she knew for a fact he would know if the seal had been removed and quite frankly, she wasn't ready to go back into the same building with him yet.

Her mind drifted to her team. What would Kiba and Shino do in this situation? She had no idea. Kiba would probably try to attack Sasuke rather than seal him into a secluded building and Shino…how was she supposed to know what went on in that head of his.

What would Naruto do?

Her head shot up and her cheeks flushed at the thought of being trapped with Naruto in the middle of nowhere. She bit her lip feeling warm all of the sudden. He wouldn't threaten to kill her or say harsh things to her even if he was frustrated.

He would be strong and confront Sasuke as well most likely succeeding and waiting for help to arrive. Would Naruto wait? He didn't seem like the patient kind…

A shadow appeared over her as she was daydreaming. All of the sudden a sandal kicked her knee lightly making her look up immediately. Sasuke stared down at her pink cheeks and flustered expression.

"Shouldn't you be spending less time fantasizing about boys and working on getting me the hell out of here?" he barked making her cheeks turn brighter.

"I—I wasn't fantasizing about anyone!" she retorted spiritedly.

He gave her a skeptical look before speaking again.

"It's written on that pudgy face of yours. Don't start lying to me. That will just be digging yourself deeper."

She gave up and nodded slightly and looked down only to get her arm pulled harshly. She squeaked and was pulled to her feet nearly toppling over into him. He stepped out of the way as she fell face first into a bush.

"I expect more effort from you tomorrow."

She popped her head out and spit out some leaves, groaning.

What had she done to deserve this?


End file.
